(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Fire Department reports Gregg Young of Atlantic has donated $15,000 to the Atlantic Fire Department. Employees and firefighters celebrated the donation on Wednesday, with a “big check” photo to mark the occasion.

Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel said he appreciates Gregg Young of Atlantic supporting the community with the donation, and said the funds will likely be used for equipment for the department as well as helping with fire prevention efforts.

Photo by Jennifer Nichols, courtesy of the Atlantic News Telegraph.

Gregg Young of Atlantic General Manager Matt Miller said, “As part of the Gregg Young Cares Initiative, Gregg Young of Atlantic makes donations to a local charity or organization in the Atlantic community throughout the year. Being an involved community partner and supporting our local communities is extremely important to Gregg and the entire Gregg Young organization. We are extremely appreciative and grateful for the phenomenal services that the Atlantic Fire and Rescue Department provides our community and we are honored to be able to present this donation to assist with ongoing equipment needs.”

(Jefferson, Iowa)  – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a stormwater drainage ditch containing dark colored water near the North Raccoon River in Jefferson in Greene County. On March 26 at 7:50 p.m, the DNR Field Office in Atlantic was notified of dark colored water observed in a stormwater ditch in Daubendiek Park on the southwest side of Jefferson. The stormwater ditch drains to the North Raccoon River.

DNR field staff responded to the incident, and upon arrival observed multiple pockets of discolored water in the ditch. Water samples were collected and delivered to the State Hygienic Laboratory for further analysis. Officials are investigating the source of the discolored water, but do not believe any reached the North Raccoon River. No dead fish were observed in the area.

A stormwater drainage ditch with discolored water in Daubendiek Park in Jefferson.

Cleanup efforts have begun. City staff constructed a berm in the stormwater ditch, which currently has low flow, to prevent contamination from reaching the North Raccoon River. Residents are advised to avoid contact with water in the drainage ditch at this time.

The DNR appreciates the public awareness of the situation and the quick response from Public Works staff and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. If anyone has any information on the incident, please contact Kristi Burg at (712) 340-3076.

To report a release after hours, please call the DNR’s emergency spill line at (515) 725-8694. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of an incident. The DNR website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Education today (Thursday) announced statewide voting is now open for Iowans to help select the state’s next education license plate design. Replacing the current decades-old design, these new license plate designs feature original artwork from 16 student semifinalists from across the state.

“Earlier this school year, the Department asked students to help us reimagine Iowa’s education license plate, and now it’s time for you to pick your favorite submissions,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “This first-of-its-kind design challenge is helping us celebrate education across Iowa while recognizing the incredible artistic talent of our students.”

A committee representing art teachers from across the state reviewed and selected the 16 semifinalists from over 100 qualified designs submitted by Iowa K-12 art classes. Each entry was reviewed for creativity, originality, artistic skill and its representation of celebrating Iowa education. Iowans can access the online voting form to select their top three overall favorite designs in each of the following grade bands: 3-5, 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12. Then select your top three overall favorite designs.

From the results of the public voting, three or four finalists will be selected for final consideration. The winning design will be announced at the end of the school year, replacing the current design that has been in place since 1997. The redesigned license plates will tentatively go into production this summer and all semifinalist and finalist art designs will be permanently displayed at the Department’s Grimes State Office Building.

The Iowa Education License Plate Contest was introduced last fall to redesign the state’s current education license plate. Iowa K-12 students were invited to create original designs for the education license plates that will be featured on the vehicles of drivers supporting Iowa education across the state. Iowa K-12 art teachers could select up to 10 student designs to submit for the contest this spring.

Specialized education license plates are a great way for Iowa drivers to show their support of education across the state. All education license plates are purchased through the Iowa Department of Transportation. The fees collected from the purchase of specialized education license plates support school districts with the highest per pupil transportation costs, including schools serving rural communities.

The contest voting period is open through April 15. The voting form can be accessed on the Iowa Department of Education’s website.

More information on the contest can be found on the Iowa Education License Plate Contest webpage. Iowa Education License Plate Contest

(Radio Iowa) – The unemployment rate for February stayed the same as January at three-point-three percent. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says there were some ups and downs in the job market. “Employers shed about 11-hundred jobs in February, which ends the streak of job gains that started in November. So that’s not good. And of course, manufacturing overall has lost the most jobs in the last year, with 76-hundred lost jobs,” she says.

Townsend says on the positive side there was an increase of 500 jobs in manufacturing, primarily in food production and animal processing. “We saw gains in private industries led by healthcare, which increased 800 jobs in February, which is always a good sign that healthcare and social assistance have grown in the last five months,” she says. “Healthcare is our most critical need for workforce right now. So that’s a good sign and a good trend.”

Federal officials always do revision of labor numbers at the start of the year and that revision included an increase in the number of Iowans in the workforce for January. Townsend says that number also stayed the same in February. She says Iowa labor situation is doing okay right now. “We’ve weathered a tough patch with, like I said, the loss of manufacturing jobs around 76-hundred in the last 12 months. That’s quite that’s quite a bit from our largest industry, but it could have been a lot worse than and now hopefully we’re coming out of that, or we’ll get to the other side of that in the next few months,” she says.

The three-point-three percent unemployment rate in February is up from two-point-seven percent one year ago. The U-S unemployment rate increased to four-point-one percent in February.

(Radio Iowa) – Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed a lawsuit against a northeast Iowa lawman she calls a “sanctuary sheriff.” Bird is accusing Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx of discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

In February, on Facebook, Marx said immigration detainer requests aren’t always reviewed by a judge and he’d take every effort to “block, interfere and interrupt” unconstitutional actions. Bird gave Marx a retraction to post online by 5 p.m. yesterday. The attorney general says the sheriff’s refusal to do so gave her no choice but to take the case to court.

Neither the county nor the sheriff have commented on the lawsuit. However, earlier today (Thursday) Sheriff Marx announced his February post on Facebook had been removed, but Bird’s proposed retraction statement was not acceptable to the county.

The sheriff says he has been and will remain in compliance with state and federal immigration laws — while staying true to the constitutional protections afforded to the citizens of Winneshiek County. Winneshiek County stands to lose all state funding if it winds up on the losing side of the case.

(Radio Iowa) – Senator Joni Ernst says she’s waiting for information from the National Security Council before commenting on Trump Administration officials discussing military strikes in Yemen accidentally inviting a journalist to their group chat — on the app called Signal. “While I know everybody’s talking about the ‘Signal’ leak, we also should be talking about the fact that we have a president that’s standing up to these terrorist organization,” Ernst said, “so there’s a little bit of concerning news, but then a lot of really good news surrounding this.”

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Red Oak) (official photo)

U-S airstrikes are targeting Houthi rebels. The group has threatened to resume attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea and other Mideast waters.  “We’re actually going after terrorist groups that have targeted Americans the past four and five years,” Ernst says. Since the October 7th attacks in Israel, the Houthis have sunk two vessels in the Mideast and used drones to hit over 100 others. Ernst says she is not worried about the competency of the U-S defense secretary or the president’s national security advisor who admits he accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief in a text chain with others, including the vice president. However, Ernst does emphasize the importance of secure facilities called SCIFs.

“I just want to make sure that anytime there’s sensitive information discussed that we do it in a SCIF or on those classified lines,” Ernst said, “so I do know here in the senate anytime I’m receiving sensitive information, I have to go down to the Senate SCIF and receive that information.” Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to the U-S Senate, serves on the Armed Services Committee. Ernst, the first female combat veteran elected to the U-S Senate, serves on the Armed Services Committee.

The panel’s Republican chairman and top Democrat have asked the military’s inspector general to investigate the Signal group chat incident. While the text messages disclosed military strikes in Yemen would start in about an hour, President Trump has said classified information was not shared.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is being critical of judges who she says are pushing their own political agendas from the bench and she believes the judicial process needs reform. While she didn’t immediately agree with U-S House Speaker Mike Johnson, who suggested this week that Congress has the power to eliminate entire district courts, Hinson says it’s clear, action is needed to squelch judges who go too far and throw out executive orders.

“We have activist judges in our court system,” Hinson says. “I think the most important thing is that we’re taking a look at how to reform the judicial branch so that they don’t have that universal power to override an order like that and stop the executive branch from being able to do its job.” The top Republican in the House, Johnson says multiple injunctions issued in recent weeks are part of a “dangerous trend.” Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says the judicial system needs to be impartial.

IA (R) Congresswoman Ashley Hinson

“I believe in due process and making sure that we have accountability in that process. What I want to do is make sure we’re looking at that,” Hinson says. “I actually plan to have a meeting with our judges in Iowa to try to figure out some reforms that might make sense, that still protects the Constitution and due process, and give that judicial lane so that people can challenge things that they don’t agree with.” Hinson says it’s important that dissenting opinions are heard.

“I strongly believe people should still be able to do that,” she says. “There’s a reason why we have equal branches of government, including the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch.” The House Judiciary Committee is to hold a hearing next week to focus on what Johnson says are abuses in the courts, while pending House legislation would halt judges from blocking federal policies with injunctions. Such bills would face an uncertain future in the Senate, where the backing of some Democrats would be needed for passage.